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The phone is a remarkably complex, simple device,
and very rarely ever needs repairs, once you fix them. Dan/Panther

Author
Topic: The CRPF "Bad Packing" awards (Read 147676 times)

Great buy, Paul! As Jonathan said, that gray cord alone is worth much more than $10. That will be a nice phone for your collection. You did get lucky with that wonderful packing job. What are people thinking when they ship something like that?

Great buy, Paul! As Jonathan said, that gray cord alone is worth much more than $10. That will be a nice phone for your collection. You did get lucky with that wonderful packing job. What are people thinking when they ship something like that?

Not only did you get an amazing deal, but the fact that the phone arrived without damage makes it even more amazing. It's a good thing that the box was not any wider, or the seller would have packed it with the handset in the cradle.

I'm working on it now, and I'll post a pic upon completion. I'm very happy about that gray line cord, and this is the first one I have with the two-piece cord restraint in the handset. My other Moss Green is a '57, and I do really like the color. Reminds me of TV shows like "I Dream of Jeannie" when I was a kid.

I watched a bunch of "That Girl" Episodes a few months back. In the early episodes EVERY phone was a moss green 500. Ann's phone (Marlo Thomas), her neighbours phone, phones in offices, all the same with big long matching set cords. And it wasn't that they only had ONE phone on the set. Her neighbour across the hall came over with her phone (thus the long cords I guess) and of course left with Ann's phone by mistake so they were getting each others calls!

In episodes from later years some other colors came along and Princess phones showed up.

I don't think the first season was a 1500 but now that you mention it I think her phone did turn into a green 1500 and then soon after she had a Princess phone in the bedroom and on and on it went. Poor strugling working girl living in New York City just after leaving home but she had the $$ for colored phones in every room of her apartment!

Ok, here a pic of the phone about finished. Bad light in the garage so the color doesn't look true. I also scored one of early 283B plugs without the "ears" on the line cord. Of course, the bad part is the "hen's teeth" status of the missing gray handset cord. I'm considering trying to make a straight one for it. My issue is finding the right thickness and flex in a dark gray cord. So far light gray is all I can find. I'm toying with the idea of trying some dye approaches to darken the cordage...

Jorge - Yes, I could connect it "F style" with 3 wires, but I think you're right about the thickness. With 4 wires, a handset cord would be a tad thicker. Question for you: the phone shell does have brown staining in some places (the flash picks one area up the pic below the letter "S" on the dial plate. Any thoughts on this? I'm guessing I can sand it out, but in normal light it looks fine. Tobacco? There aren't any bad smells, but Novus doesn't seem to remove them. Thanks!

Ok, here a pic of the phone about finished. Bad light in the garage so the color doesn't look true. I also scored one of early 283B plugs without the "ears" on the line cord. Of course, the bad part is the "hen's teeth" status of the missing gray handset cord. I'm considering trying to make a straight one for it. My issue is finding the right thickness and flex in a dark gray cord. So far light gray is all I can find. I'm toying with the idea of trying some dye approaches to darken the cordage...

Well at least the handset was placed on the side.I got a 2500 Yellow WE with handset on hook wrapped in bubble wrap with a crack on the right side where the receiver was, made apparently after the box was dropped by the Post Office. I did get my money back and got to keep the phone.

That is typical of what can happen when a phone is shipped with its handset in the cradle. As far a I am aware, the best way to fix it is to push the parts back into position from the inside of the shell as well as possible and then to apply super glue to the inside of the crack. Some sanding and polishing of the outside will probably be helpful.